2 Meeting - BALESTRATE SEAFRONT REDEVELOPMENT

WATERFRONT
BALESTRATE, PALERMO

The seafront at Balestrate is a narrow white strip of land lying between the geometrically built residential area of the town and the uncertain and changing profile of the sea waves lapping the beach. Along this strip of land rests a paved promenade with wooden footbridges and steps which plunge into the sand like slender offshoots leading towards the sea. It consists of a few elements which are repeated along the waterfront with occasional variations, and is built out of essential local materials: it appears like a very simple frame compared to the beauty of the surrounding panorama. The seafront has given the designers the opportunity to show how the quality of architecture can and should be deployed, above all, in the care of public spaces of daily use. In fact, by employing significantly the financial resources available, the project has managed to turn a simple intervention of emergency maintenance into an operation of environmental and urban redevelopment of the coastal space, a supreme public good.